USB Floppy

[geezer]

One computer is still on the sneaker net and so a floppy drive is mandatory.

Have a floppy drive connected through USB. It always worked under previous versions, but I haven't yet got the settings divined for getting it mounted automatically under 11.04.

The fstab entry is:
/dev/sdi /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

I can run KwickDiskFree and supposedly mount there. It displays the correct information except for disk size. Unfortunately Dolphin knows nothing about the disk and there is no entry in mtab after KwickDiskFree supposedly mounts the drive. If I ask KwickDiskFree to subsequently unmount the drive, it complains that it wasn't mounted according to mtab.

I tried the setting in "System Settings->Removable Devices" and the boxes look to be logically correctly checked.

So, is there any way to get 11.04 to automatically mount the drive when a disk is inserted?

[PattiMichelle]

Re: USB Floppy

This is probably not helpful, but in Kubuntu I normally manually mount disks at boot time in the right-side bar in Dolphin. I guess I've gotten used to this. In OpenSuSE I always had everything automounted. When I plug in anything USB, the tray applet for the USB bus lets me mount it. (I have a laptop and so have to use USB everything). Sorry, no joy.

[Snowhog]

Re: USB Floppy

Your listed fstab entry for your floppy, after the /dev/sdx designation, is identical to mine. When I insert a floppy diskette, the drive is mounted and visible/available in Dolphin. Yours should behave the same.

In my System Settings > Removable Devices, the main check box is unchecked, but the sub-boxes are all checked (to do that, the first box has to be checked, then check the sub-boxes, then uncheck the main box and apply.

What brand of USB Floppy drive do you have?

[PattiMichelle]

Re: USB Floppy

I use zip-100's for sneakernet. I should probably start using USB sticks, but one of my computers is Win95!

[Snowhog]

Re: USB Floppy

A 'Zip' drive? Not a floppy? Or are you saying, that the floppy drive is made by Zip?

[PattiMichelle]

Re: USB Floppy

Sorry - I'm not trying to hijack this thread - I was just adding to geezer's question - but I use a USB iomega zip drive instead of a USB floppy (geezer's original question). Sorry!

[geezer]

Re: USB Floppy

I thank all for your helpful replies.

I have had trouble in the past with the USB subsystem being overloaded powerwise - I have 3 usb printers, a usb scanner, the floppy drive and 2 usb flash drives for backup.

Subsequently I installed an external USB hub which is powered separately with 7 ports. I unplugged all of the USB cords into the hub and replugged and then unplugged the USB cord from the hub to the computer itself. As soon as I plugged that last cable back into place, the floppy drive spun and the drive was mounted.

So it reduced to a loose plug problem which mystifies me since all 3 printers plugged into the hub work and have been used yesterday. Why only the floppy drive seemed to be affected is a real puzzle.

[Snowhog]

Re: USB Floppy

It could also have been a static electricity issue. USB connected devices are easily zapped (and so, disconnected) by static charges - happens to me often enough, that I have a gounding wire next to the laptop that I touch before making contact with my laptop and/or mouse. In cases where the mouse 'dies', I just unplug and replug it back in, which causes the USB Bus to repoll and identify/reconnect the mouse.

[PattiMichelle]

Re: USB Floppy

Hi geezer: So you're saying it's better to use an external USB hub than a bunch of internal native USB ports?

Patti

I thank all for your helpful replies.

I have had trouble in the past with the USB subsystem being overloaded powerwise - I have 3 usb printers, a usb scanner, the floppy drive and 2 usb flash drives for backup.

Subsequently I installed an external USB hub which is powered separately with 7 ports. I unplugged all of the USB cords into the hub and replugged and then unplugged the USB cord from the hub to the computer itself. As soon as I plugged that last cable back into place, the floppy drive spun and the drive was mounted.

So it reduced to a loose plug problem which mystifies me since all 3 printers plugged into the hub work and have been used yesterday. Why only the floppy drive seemed to be affected is a real puzzle.

[geezer]

Re: USB Floppy

I don't know about everybody, but for my setup an external, separately powered USB hub is far better. I don't know if it is the printers or the flash drives, but USB devices can pull a lot of power through the USB plug. I kjnow one guys setup would power down whenever he plugged 2 flash drives into his native USB sockets. A separate USB hub with a separate power supply solved his problem also. I also saw it happen with only 1 flash drive on another computer.

Hi geezer: So you're saying it's better to use an external USB hub than a bunch of internal native USB ports?

Patti

I thank all for your helpful replies.

I have had trouble in the past with the USB subsystem being overloaded powerwise - I have 3 usb printers, a usb scanner, the floppy drive and 2 usb flash drives for backup.

Subsequently I installed an external USB hub which is powered separately with 7 ports. I unplugged all of the USB cords into the hub and replugged and then unplugged the USB cord from the hub to the computer itself. As soon as I plugged that last cable back into place, the floppy drive spun and the drive was mounted.

So it reduced to a loose plug problem which mystifies me since all 3 printers plugged into the hub work and have been used yesterday. Why only the floppy drive seemed to be affected is a real puzzle.

[Snowhog]

Re: USB Floppy

Internal USB ports are powered by the system. One would expect that the PC manufacturer would ensure that the power supply of the USB bus controller would be sufficient to power all the ports when connected. But...

I have four USB ports on my laptop. I use three of them; one for my printer, one for my mouse, and one for an 8-port USB Hub (separately powered). I use the Hub for connecting other devices. I think personally, that using a powered USB Hub is less taxing on the system.

[geezer]

Re: USB Floppy

I've found the reason for the "problem". I discovered that in order to mount the floppy disk, I have to unplug the drive USB cable and then immediately replug it. The drive then spins again and the drive and disk is mounted and ready for use. Kwickdiskfree then correctly lists the media size.

It's not really a problem, just the mindset of the (K)Ubuntu developers.

I finally really read the message displayed when I click on the panel US symbol and then click to unmount the floppy. It reads:

"The following device can now be safely removed
External floppy drive"

Notice that it refers to the "device" and "drive" and NOT to the media.

So I have found out that the developers no longer consider floppy disks as proper media for use by personal computers. I think there are maybe 2 reasons for this:

• floppy disks are OLD, really old technology. The developers probably do not really seriously consider that anybody uses them any more. The s/w to mount and use them is inherited code and only the interface s/w is updated. Thus the wording of the message. So the only removable MEDIA they recognise is optical disks.
• The developers have developed a laptop mindset. I do not think that they consider the possibility that anybody seriously uses desktop computers any more except for servers. As additional evidence of this witness how they treat the "Num Lock" key. Specifically they go to great lengths during the Linux boot to turn the "Num Lock" key Off. I have the BIOS set to turn the "Num Lock" key On and then Linux boot turns it off. Not just once but repeatedly. I can watch the LED and when Linux boot turns the "Num Lock" key Off and I hit the key to tun it back On, Linux boot then waits momentarily and turns it Off again. It does this until the login screen comes up. After that, it blessedly leaves the "Num Lock" key state alone. For desktop users this is a real pain in the A**. For laptop users it is probably essential. The developers have left no method for changing this behaviour that I have been able to discover except by doing a custom kernal compile.
• Another indication of the laptop mindset is that for laptops it is necessary to unplug the USB devices on shutdown and move and then replug them in when you have settled down again and need the devices. Thus, laptop USB devices are unplugged and replugged. Thus, the message that it is safe to remove the "DRIVE" and not the "MEDIA".

Funny how the mindset can cloud ones perspective and bias you against perfectly normal users. If the developers were really on the ball, they could program Linux to accept the "Num Lock" key setting set by the BIOS (maybe laptops don't have a BIOS capable of setting the key .


Until the developers again accept desktop users as normal people, I will just have to live with their bias and unthinking prejudice.